Bread to clean wallpaper and milk for floors: tips from Audley End House

Conservators at English Heritage, the charity which runs Audley End House, have been experimenting with historic cleaning techniques as part of the annual spring clean.

Their experiments found that skimmed milk was indeed a useful cleansing agent for stone floors, and white bread does collect dirt from wallpaper.

English Heritage conservators try washing flag stone floors with milk as part of the annual spring clean. (Image: English Heritage)

Amber Xavier-Rowe, Head of Collections Conservation at English Heritage, said: “Although we may not recommend some of the more bizarre historic cleaning tips, like using a potato to clean an oil painting, housekeepers of the past were often spot on with their methods, despite relatively little scientific knowledge.

“Using white bread to clean wallpaper is a great example. We tend to use a synthetic bread to avoid attracting pests but the idea is the same and normal bread works just as well. Just don’t forget to hoover the crumbs!”

Mrs Avis Crocombe, the star of English Heritage’s YouTube cookery series The Victorian Way and inspired by the life of the Victorian Head Cook of the same name at Audley End House (Image: English Heritage)

A new video with cleaning tips by Mrs Avis Crocombe, the star of English Heritage’s YouTube cookery series The Victorian Way and inspired by the life of the Victorian Head Cook of the same name at Audley End House, is now available. Tips include how to scrub frying pans with stale bread and soak pots in soda water.

English Heritage is preparing to reopen its sites including Audley End House on May 17.

Audley End House (Image: English Heritage Trust)

Audley End House (Image: English Heritage)

Historic cleaning tips you could still use:

· Use bread to clean wallpaper (but remember to clean up the crumbs!)

· Use skimmed milk on stone flagstone floors, but test in a small area first

· Rejuvenate your waxed timber floor with a mixture of beeswax and turpentine

· Use a pony haired brush to dust your furniture and figurines

· Use a soft chamois leather to give a shine to mirrors. This is much better and eco-friendly than glass cleaners

· Brush and polish your fire grate with a fire blacking product to prevent corrosion

Historic cleaning tips you should ignore:

· Sprinkle your carpet with damp tea leaves before sweeping

· To clean your oil paintings, rub a freshly cut slice of potato damped in cold water over the picture. Wipe off the lather with a damp sponge, and finish with lukewarm water and dry and polish with an old silk handkerchief

· To clean wallpaper, apply oatmeal over whole surface of the wall with a piece of flannel and sweep down with a soft broom or feather duster

· To clean mould from paintings, leave them in direct sunlight to sunbathe

· Bring silver to a shine using salt and Worcester sauce

· Washing oak floor boards with beer

· Using salt and lemon on historic copper pans